DOES ARTICLE 2 OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRESCRIBE AN ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY? THE IMPACT OF RECENT PRACTICE OF EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

In: Teme: časopis za društvene nauke : journal for social sciences, p. 607

Abstract

In paragraph 1 of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the imposition of the death penalty is permitted, as a departure from the right to life. In the last decades there has been a tendency for the absolute abolition of the death penalty, in times of war and peace. As a result of this effort, almost all European countries abolished the death penalty. In addition, the Council of Europe adopted Protocol 6 and Protocol 13, which completely abolished the death penalty. The European Court also, in its practice, using the principle of "convention as a living instrument", has changed its approach to the scope of the ban on the application of the death penalty. The authors deal with a critical interpretation of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, trying to answer the question, of whether there has been an abrogation of the provision of paragraph 1 of Article 2, so that according to that provision, there is an absolute ban on the application of the death penalty in the Council of Europe member states.